Meredith is diagnosed with COVID-19 and the MerDer moments keep coming on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Grey’s Anatomy (Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV) and its commitment to addressing the ongoing pandemic this season means it should have come as no surprise that a character would fall ill with COVID. The big surprise came when writers went straight for the show’s namesake, giving Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) the viral short stick. On Thursday’s episode, Meredith continued to put the "dream" in "McDreamy" and hallucinate about Derek (Patrick Dempsey). After 17 seasons, the only time Meredith gets a beach vacation is while mourning her dead husband or while she is dying. This year even stinks for fictional people.After collapsing at the end of last week’s season premiere (which turned into a reunion that was six years in the making), Meredith tested positive for COVID and she's getting worse. Her lungs are breaking down and she’s scared to fall asleep, fearing that she won’t wake up. After Derek’s death, Meredith made Alex her (medical) person, a decision that Amelia (Caterina Scorscone) and Maggie (Kelly McCreary) want her to change. Refusing to put the burden of her medical care on her sisters, Meredith chooses Richard (James Pickens Jr) as her new (medical) person. Meredith made the call after talking to McWidow/Hayes (Richard Flood), who told her to pick someone who would choose her over and over again. Where have we heard that?The McDreamy dreams continued throughout the episode with each dream focused on Meredith attempting to run to her husband without getting any closer. As Derek told her, the sand is not real. It certainly felt real to Meredith when she did a face plant in it at the end of the episode (thus giving us the new gif of 2020). That felt more like our dreams. Derek told Meredith that she can’t reach him because she is still worried about the kids, which is a heads up to viewers.

me trying to escape 2020 pic.twitter.com/xGnfxwE0Dj

— meredith (@kyluuhbb) November 20, 2020

“God knows I love you. I’ll be right here when you’re ready,” Derek tells Meredith. If Meredith and Derek do finally make skin-to-skin contact on the beach, we know there’s some flatlining happening in the real world. Again, even dream sequence vacations have been ruined in 2020.Medical personnel burnout and the toll the pandemic has taken on first responders and their families were also addressed this week, as was the tragically disproportionate rate of COVID cases among the Black community, specifically Black women.COVID and Meredith’s deteriorating health remained the dominating arc, but Thursday’s episode did begin to shift some storylines towards what viewers are used to from a pre-pandemic Grey’s Anatomy. Miranda (Chandra Wilson) and Jo (Camilla Luddington) were tasked with treating a woman who was having a hepatic pregnancy, meaning the baby was attached to her liver. On the other side of the hospital, Jackson (Jesse Williams) and Link (Chris Carmack) repaired the hand of a sex therapist whose record stands at helping one patient achieve 37 orgasms in an hour. Peak Grey’s Anatomy has returned.[video_embed id='2074670']RELATED: ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Giacomo Gianniotti teases a ‘special’ 17th season [/video_embed]In addition to Meredith, Tom Koracick (Greg Germann) has also tested positive for COVID, although his prayer circle has yet to begin. Instead, he’s on the receiving end of snarky comments from his coworkers and pitying looks from Teddy (Kim Raver), who is continuing to rip his heart out with her very existence.Tom has also been tasked with teaching the new interns, including a mother and daughter team (Mama Ortiz sassing Tom makes her our new best friend) and one student who was previously a vascular surgeon in India. It’s common for doctors from other countries to come to the US and Canada and be retrained to practice here, which is why it’s surprising that it has taken 17 seasons for Grey’s Anatomy to introduce a (possibly?) regular character with training outside the US (for more of that, check out Transplant on CTV).Tom is not willing to share his knowledge with the newbies and quits after only a few hours, leaving the trio of remaining interns without a leader until Richard steps in. Giving loyal Grey’s fans a throwback to season one, Weber walks the new interns into the operating room for their pep talk. In 2020, this talk was much different. As Richard tells the interns, “The before is gone, we’re in the now.” Ain’t that the truth.Watch Grey’s Anatomy on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.[video_embed id='2079125']BEFORE YOU GO: Rockefeller Christmas tree getting mixed reaction [/video_embed]